


unexpected surprises

by mythological



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Aged up characters, Becoming a family, Fluff, Jisung is baby, M/M, Romance??, Single Parents, jaemin needs help and hyuck is his savior, seriously idk how to tag this, side lumark, side noren
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:16:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21883615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mythological/pseuds/mythological
Summary: Sometimes, life likes to be an asshole and throw curve balls at you. Maybe your snack gets stuck in the vending machine, or maybe you find out that you have the misfortune of having a professor with a rating of 1.5/5 stars on ratemyprofessor.comOr, if you're Jaemin, you wake up to a six-month-old baby you didn't know about that's been dropped off in front of your doorstep on one, fateful Sunday morning.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Na Jaemin
Comments: 23
Kudos: 351





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> some background information that might help:  
> -fic takes place in NYC and roughly spans from September 2019 until March 2020  
> -norenmin are super rich in that trust fund kid style. jaemin's family comes from old money and they do business all over the world. renjun's family operates the biggest hopital in nyc. jeno's family has businesses scattered all over america.  
> -markhyuck are family friends and they grew up together. the reason norenmin has never met him is because donghyuck went to a different college all the way out in sunny california while norenmin+lumark went to NYU.  
> -jisung is the cutest baby ever  
> -2jae are brothers!
> 
> also a disclaimer: i absolutely Do Not Know how to take care of babies, and everything mentioned in the fic is a direct result of my Google searches. the fbi agent assigned to me was probably wondering why i was looking up "what do 6 month old babies eat" at 4 in the morning.
> 
> enjoy!

Jaemin likes to believe that he has his life together for the most part.

He’s 27, working at his family’s company, doing pretty well for himself—ignoring the fact that most of these things were handed to him on a silver platter.

Nonetheless, Jaemin’s worked hard these past few years in school, and he’s good at what he does. He’s lucky that he’s the second son, meaning that he doesn’t have to worry about taking over the company and all the politics behind that, and Jaemin is content with staying behind the scenes and making sure their products are faring well on the market and double-checking new software for any bugs.

Give him a piece of code that refuses to work and Jaemin will have it fixed for you in an hour, tops, but even the Great Jaemin Na isn’t sure what to do with a sleeping baby that’s been left at his doorstep.

> _His name is Jisung. He’s 6 months old and his birthday is on February 5, 2019. He’s allergic to peanuts, kiwis, and shrimp. I’m sorry for not telling you about him sooner, but I think that you can take care of our son better than I can. I hope that Jisung will grow up loved and cared for like he deserves._
> 
> _—Jennifer_

The baby wakes up right when Jaemin finishes reading the note and all he can do is stare blankly as the baby—Jisung, who is his _son_ —starts wailing.

Jaemin likes to believe that he has his life together for the most part, but maybe, just maybe, Jaemin thinks, he should rethink that notion.

✲

“Oh, my God.”

Both Renjun and Jeno stare blankly at Jisung, who stare at them back. Jeno coos, crouching down so that he’s eye level with Jisung and holding out a finger for Jisung to take and pull. Renjun, on the other hand, turns towards Jaemin with a look of disbelief on his face.

“That is a _baby_ ,” he hisses, dragging Jaemin towards the kitchen so that he can yell at him without Jisung hearing. “Jaemin Na, what did you _do_.”

“I don’t know!” Jaemin hisses back. “I literally found him on my doorstep this morning when I went to answer the door.”

“ _How does a baby just appear on your doorstep_ —”

“His mom, _Jennifer_ , dropped him off,” Jaemin cuts Renjun off. “Don’t ask me how she got in the building, because I don’t know. Jun, what do I _do_ with him?”

Renjun looks like he wants to strangle Jaemin, and Jaemin really wouldn’t put it past him to do just that. “Oh, I don’t know, find the mother maybe and ask her what the hell is going on, maybe?”

“You don’t think I’ve tried?” Jaemin throws his hands up and paces around the kitchen. “I’ve already asked everyone in the society we were in together. Nobody can get a hold of her. She changed her phone number and deactivated her social media accounts. It’s like she vanished into thin air!”

“Well, she can’t be far,” Jeno supplies, walking into the kitchen with a babbling Jisung in his arms. “You said she dropped him off this morning, right?”

“Yes,” Jaemin sighs.

“And you said somebody rang the doorbell, which is why you even bothered to check even though you’re never awake at this time on the weekend?” Jeno continues.

“ _Yes_ ,” Jaemin says. “Get on with it, Jeno.”

Jeno shrugs, shifting so that he can carry Jisung more comfortably. “I’m just saying,” he continues, turning so that Renjun can squint at Jisung. “If she dropped him off this morning, then chances are she’s still probably in the city.”

“You realize that we live in New York City, where the population is literally like, in the millions, right?” Jaemin deadpans, crossing his arms. He refuses to look at Jisung, because he knows it’ll be game over once he does. “How am I supposed to find her?”

“That sounds like a you problem and not a me problem.” Jeno grins, and Jaemin kind of wants to punch him. “Anyways, Jisung is cute. Which is surprising, considering who his dad is, but I guess he must take after his mom. Who’s the mom, anyways?”

“Jennifer,” Jaemin grumbles, moving around the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee. “My former co-chair for the business society that I was in during grad school.”

Jeno’s eyebrows shoot up at that and he looks at Renjun for confirmation, who nods with a sigh. “I didn’t know you guys dated?”

It’s only nine in the morning and Jaemin already wants to die. “We didn’t,” he says. “It was just a one-time thing.”

“Let me guess,” Renjun says wryly. “You two got drunk after one of the grad parties and slept together, didn’t you?”

Jaemin doesn’t bother gracing Renjun with a verbal response, jerking his head in a vague nodding motion instead. The sigh that Renjun lets out can split the earth, Jaemin thinks, and pours himself the coffee that’s finally done brewing.

Jeno lets out a low whistle of appreciation. “Dude.”

“Shut up,” Jaemin hisses, downing his coffee in one go. “Don’t say a _word_.”

“We don’t need to.” Renjun rolls his eyes and gestures towards Jisung. “This situation speaks for itself. _Tremendously_.”

If Jaemin could go back into the past, he’d stop himself from ever befriending Renjun back in middle school, he thinks. “Thanks, Renjun.”

“Anytime, Jaemin.”

“Do you even know how to take care of a kid?” The reality of the situation seems to hit the three of them at once, and Jeno looks panicked at the prospect of Jaemin having an actual baby to take care of now. “What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know.” Jaemin feels the panic rising. “Oh, my God, what am I going to do?”

Renjun studies them for a second and turns back to look at Jisung, who looks like he’s three seconds away from falling asleep. “Well, this certainly is… an unexpected situation, to say the least.”

“That’s putting it mildly,” Jeno says under his breath. Jaemin ignores him.

“I can’t take care of a kid,” Jaemin hisses. “I can barely take care of myself!”

“He’s not just a kid, he’s _your_ kid,” Renjun points out. “And keep your voice down; you’ll wake him.”

Jaemin snaps his mouth shut because Renjun is right. It hadn’t quite hit him until that second that Jisung _is_ his kid—his own flesh and blood, and now Jaemin is responsible for, well, raising him.

“Oh, shit.” Jaemin pales at the thought. He whips his head towards Jisung, who is now fast asleep in Jeno’s arms, and pales even more. “Renjun, what am I going to do?”

Renjun checks his watch and raises an eyebrow. “Well, for now you’re on your own, because I’m late for my shift at the hospital. You should text Mark. He’ll know what to do. Probably.”

“You’re just going to abandon me?” Jaemin hisses in betrayal. “Jeno, please tell me you’ll stay.”

Jeno shrugs apologetically, careful not to wake Jisung. “I drove,” he whispers, gently holding Jisung out so that Jaemin can take him. “Sorry, Jaem.”

“I can’t believe this.” Jaemin looks like he’s going to be sick, but he takes Jisung anyways. Jisung squirms a little and looks bothered but simmers down when Jaemin freezes, holding his breath in fear of waking Jisung up.

Renjun nods in approval. “Good job, Papa Na. Keep it up.”

“Help me, please,” Jaemin whispers, staring at Jisung in pure and utter fear. “Help me.”

“Text Mark,” Renjun suggests again, walking out of the kitchen with Jeno trailing behind him. “You don’t have to see us out. Good luck.”

“Good luck, Jaem!” Jeno calls out, immediately slapping a hand over his mouth when Jisung whimpers in his sleep. “Oops, sorry.”

Jaemin hisses as he walks out of the kitchen, staring as his friends put on their shoes to abandon him in his time of need. “I will kill you, Jeno.”

“Text Mark!” Jeno says and shuts the door, leaving Jaemin standing in the middle of the hallway with a sleeping baby— _his_ sleeping baby—in his arms.

“Fuck,” Jaemin curses quietly so that he doesn’t wake Jisung up. He watches the raindrops hit his windows, dread building inside him as the gravity of the situation begins to weigh down on his shoulders. “I am so fucked.”

✲

For all the shit they talk, Jaemin really does love and appreciate his friends. He really does.

“Just for the record,” Renjun says as he holds Jisung up, smiling when he giggles down at Renjun, “I’m here for Jisung and the food. Not you.”

“Same,” Jeno agrees, standing up to get a second bowl of rice. Jaemin glowers at them.

“We’ll help you today since you lured us back with the promise of free food—”

“I can’t believe you cooked for us _willingly_ ,” Jeno says in awe.

“—but you’re on your own after today. I’m a full-time resident who’s on call literally 24/7, Jaemin,” Renjun deadpans.

Okay, so maybe Jaemin loves them a little less right now, but they _did_ come running after Jaemin’s numerous “ _SOS SOS SOS_ ” texts, so maybe he should learn to forgive and forget.

“Besides,” Renjun continues, ignoring how frazzled Jaemin looks. “It’s not like Jeno and I are more capable in any way, shape, or form than you are when it comes to kids. I’m an only child, and Jeno’s the youngest in his family. None of us have any experience with kids. Well, Jeno kind of does but he never actually took care of his nephew. He just plays with Jason sometimes when his sister’s in town.”

Jaemin groans, letting his head fall back to rest on the couch. He ignores the pain that comes when he hits his head on the wall with a dull _thud_ and finds himself wondering what the hell he’s going to do now for the millionth time that day.

“Did you try texting Mark?” Jeno asks, cooing at Jisung as the baby babbles away on Renjun’s lap. One thing Jaemin is grateful for is that Jisung is a quiet baby. He doesn’t seem to mind being in the presence of a bunch of strangers, never mind the fact that Jaemin is literally his _dad_ , and save for the awkward and hellish time of when his diapers were soiled, Jisung’s stayed quiet for the most part.

“He hasn’t replied yet,” Jaemin sighs. “I’m pretty sure he’s out of town.”

Renjun hums. He holds Jisung out, indicating that Jaemin should take him. “Weird time to be taking a vacation.”

“Isn’t Lucas in California for work right now?” Jeno asks no one in particular. “I think they take turns flying out to see each other.”

“Rich people.” Renjun clicks his tongue in distaste as if he’s not next in line to inherit one of the biggest hospitals in NYC. “Anyways, Mark can probably help you more than we can. He’s capable. Jeno and I are not.”

Well, Jaemin can’t argue with _that_. “So, what you’re saying is you’re going to abandon me again as soon as Jeno finishes eating my food.”

Both Jaemin and Renjun turn to look at Jeno, who has finished his food and is moving onto dessert. Jeno seems to notice the silence and looks at them both, tilting his head curiously and holding out a cookie as an offering. Jaemin wants to die a little.

“Yes,” Renjun says, turning back to look at Jaemin. There isn’t an ounce of guilt on his face as he gives Jaemin what they’ve dubbed the “bullshit smile”—also known as the smile Renjun uses whenever he knows he’s bullshitting someone.

“I hope you perish in hell,” Jaemin deadpans.

Renjun snorts. “Jokes on you. I’m literally Satan.”

“It’s true,” Jeno pipes up with half a cookie hanging out of his mouth. “Hell is empty because Renjun is here with us.”

“That’s your _fiancé_ ,” Jaemin hisses.

“You should text Mark again,” says Renjun, faux sympathy lacing his voice. “I’m sure he’ll know what to do.”

“Yeah.” Cookie crumbs fall from Jeno’s mouth and Jaemin scrunches up his nose in distaste. Jeno pays no mind to the crumbs and continues, “His nickname during school was Mark Capable Lee, remember?

Jaemin does remember, but he also happens to remember the time that Mark forgot to take a final during his senior year because he was too busy going on dates with his boyfriend, so he’s not so sure if he wants to trust Mark with something like this.

But then Jaemin weighs his other options which are:

  1. Telling his parents and brother, which would probably result in Jaemin’s early death.
  2. Depending on Renjun and Jeno to come help him out when they can, which is unreasonable.
  3. Looking into possible adoption, which would be Jaemin’s last, _last_ resort. Jisung is _his_ kid and there is no way in Hell Jaemin will abandon him like that. Not if he can help it.



“I’ll figure it out,” Jaemin says to absolutely no one in particular—especially _not_ Renjun. “I’ll figure it out.”

“Right,” Renjun says after a beat of pause. He looks at Jaemin skeptically. “Of course you will.”

“Why don’t you just get a babysitter?” Jeno suggests, still eating away at Jaemin’s cookie stash. “I mean, you can’t expect to be able to care for Jisung 24/7, right? You still have a job, you know. Are you going to bring him to the company every day?”

That’s another option, yes, and Jeno does have a point. But Jaemin’s seen the movies. There’s no way he’s going to trust a stranger to stay in his house and take care of his kid. Absolutely no. Way.

“Just ask Mark.” Renjun looks like he’s getting closer and closer to strangling Jaemin out of pure exasperation. “I’m sure he’ll know someone. He has a scary amount of connections everywhere even though he never leaves the house except to go to work and meet Lucas.”

Jaemin grudgingly agrees, “Okay, yeah. That’s true. I’ll try calling him tonight after Jisung goes to sleep.”

Apparently, Jisung recognizes when somebody is saying his name, because he looks up at Jaemin and starts babbling, reaching up to touch Jaemin’s face. Renjun and Jeno both coo at that while Jaemin looks at Jisung in awe—amazed at how this tiny human seems to trust Jaemin so much already.

“I can already see Jaemin giving everything Jisung wants.” Renjun shakes his head. “God, he’s going to be so spoiled.”

“Don’t say that as if you won’t be doing the same,” Jeno teases. “The first thing you did when I picked you up after your shift was to drive you back here so you could make sure Jisung’s still alive.”

Renjun gasps, looking scandalized. “I did no such thing! Don’t you dare lie, Jeno, or I’ll make you sleep on the couch tonight.

Jeno mimes zipping his lips and throwing away the key while Jaemin snorts, rolling his eyes at their antics. “I’m not going to spoil him,” he protests. “How dare you accuse me of doing such a thing, Huang.”

“Of course you won’t, dear.” Renjun pats Jaemin’s knee.

“I won’t,” Jaemin argues.

“Yes, I’m sure you won’t.” Renjun agrees, though it’s mostly to shut Jaemin up. “Jeno, are you finished eating?”

Jeno’s standing in front of the trashcan, dusting the cookie crumbs off of his shirt. “Yeah, I’m done.”

“Okay.” Renjun stands up, checking his watch. “You should probably try putting him to sleep soon. Babies go to sleep early, if I’m not mistaken. He looks tired already.”

When Jaemin looks at Jisung, he finds him blinking sleepily. A surge of panic rises when Jaemin realizes: “Where is he going to sleep?”

Renjun and Jeno both freeze and turn to look at Jaemin with a scary amount of coordination.

“Oh, shit,” Jeno says quietly. “You don’t have a crib, do you?”

“Does he need a crib?” Even Renjun looks a little panicked at the realization. “Jeno, Google how long babies need to sleep in cribs for.”

“Isn’t he six months old?” Jeno asks, frantically tapping away on his phone. “I’m pretty sure my nephew slept in a crib until he was like… two, maybe?”

“Where am I going to get a crib at,” Jaemin checks his watch, “eight in the evening? On a _Sunday_?”

Renjun hums. “You have a big bed, and you don’t move around in your sleep that much. You guys will probably be fine. Are you taking the day off tomorrow?”

“I have to.” Jaemin sighs. “I’m planning on taking the entire week off unless I miraculously find someone capable that I can trust to look after him.”

The probabilities of that happening are astronomical, and Jaemin can only pray to find someone who can at least watch Jisung three days out of the week. Money isn’t an issue for Jaemin, so now all he can do is just hope he finds a trustworthy babysitter who isn’t a high school or college student.

“Mark will know someone, don’t worry,” Jeno reassures him as he and Renjun put their shoes on to leave. Jaemin has Jisung perched on his hip, the baby fast asleep in Jaemin’s arms. “Don’t worry about it too much, Jaemin.”

“Yeah.” Renjun grins. “Who knows, maybe whoever Mark finds for you can be the other parental figure in Jisung’s life.”

“Good bye, Renjun,” Jaemin deadpans and shuts the door in their faces. He can hear them laughing from the other side of the door.

✲

 **Renjun** [8:19pm]: srsly tho  
 **Renjun** [8:19pm]: u should start dating again  
 **Renjun** [8:19pm]: i have a couple of friends at the hospital who r interested in u

 **Jaemin** [8:23pm]: i have a son to take care of now renjun  
 **Jaemin** [8:23pm]: pls

 **Renjun** [8:23pm]: lmao tru  
 **Renjun** [8:23pm]: ok well when u get settled with  
 **Renjun** [8:23pm]: everything  
 **Renjun** [8:23pm]: :}

 **Jaemin** [8:30pm]: goodnight, renjun.

✲

The first thing Jaemin does when he wakes up the next morning is call Mark. The time on his clock reads that it’s six in the morning, but Jaemin has more important things to worry about than Mark’s sleep schedule right now, thank you very much.

“Jaemin,” Mark answers on the third ring, voice coarse with sleep. “What the fuck.”

“Oh, thank God.” Jaemin lets out a sigh of relief. “Mark, you have to help me. Please.”

“Couldn’t help wait until it _isn’t_ six in the morning?” Mark groans, and Jaemin can hear him shifting on the other end of the line. “What is it, Jaemin.”

Jaemin whimpers, letting his guard down. “Mark, I have a _child_.”

It’s silent, and Jaemin prays that Mark hasn’t fallen asleep again. “Dude, what?” Mark’s voice fills Jaemin’s ears again and he exhales, relieved that Mark is still awake. “Did you get a dog or something? Why is that a bad thing? You love dogs.”

“I said that I have a _child_ not a _dog_ , Mark. Wake up,” Jaemin hisses, glancing to make sure that Jisung is still sleeping. He’s still sleeping soundly, thank God, Jaemin thinks.

“Jaemin, I understand that you love dogs and all animals, but please stop talking like your dog is your actual child. It’s a little concerning,” Mark sighs. “Also, I’m still confused on why you felt the need to call me at six in the morning to talk about your _dog_.”

“Mark, I have a six-month-old baby sleeping on my bed right now,” Jaemin deadpans, because apparently the famous Mark Capable Lee isn’t very capable of listening comprehension. “What about that is so confusing for you? What do you not understand.”

Silence, then, “ _What_.”

Jaemin inhales, then exhales slowly. Just like how his lacrosse coach has taught him back when Jaemin had been a hot-headed menace in high school. “I have,” he repeats slowly so that Mark can _maybe_ understand, “a six-month-old baby sleeping _on my bed right now_.”

“Oh, my God,” Mark says, and Jaemin can tell he’s fully awake now. He does feel a little apologetic about waking Mark up so early, but his panic for having to care for Jisung trumps the guilt. “First of all, what the fuck. And second of all, what are you calling _me_ for? I don’t have a kid. I have absolutely no experience with them whatsoever!”

“Yeah, but you have like, a scary amount of connections,” Jaemin counters. “Do you really not know anyone who’s looking for a job right now? Somebody who preferably has some experience with kids?”

Mark sighs. “God, I can’t believe this. I don’t know what’s worse—the fact that somehow you ended up with a _baby_ while I was away for a _weekend_ or the fact that I actually do know someone who might be able to help you.”

“You’re a God-send, Mark Lee,” Jaemin groans in happiness. “Have I ever told you that I love you?”

“No, and also you’re atheist,” Mark reminds him. “I’ll get back to you at a more respectable human hour.”

“Thanks you.” Jaemin sighs, hanging up when Mark bids goodbye. He turns to look at Jisung, who’s still fast asleep, and runs his fingers through his hair. There’s a shocking amount of hair on Jisung’s head, which surprises Jaemin because he’s always thought that babies were supposed to be, well, _bald_. But Jaemin’s always had a lot of hair, so it must be his genes, he thinks.

An air of tranquility fills the room, but Jaemin knows that it’s only calm before the storm.

The storm being the shitstorm that is Jisung waking up that Jaemin is most definitely not prepared for, but he thinks that he can do this. Jaemin’s babysat like, twice before, so hopefully the bare minimum experience is enough to get him through at least the morning before Mark gets back to him.

He can do this, Jaemin thinks as he watches Jisung squirm and begin to wake up, stamping down the panic that starts to rise inside of him. He can do this, he tells himself as Jisung opens his eyes and stares into Jaemin’s own.


	2. Chapter 2

He can’t do this.

Jisung won’t stop crying and Jaemin can’t figure out _why_. He’s tried changing Jisung’s diapers, he tried feeding him, and he’s even tried bribing Jisung with a tiny piece of cookie that’s managed to survive Jeno’s conquest of eating his way through Jaemin’s food supply.

“Please stop crying,” Jaemin begs, almost wailing along with Jisung, who starts to hiccup. Jaemin bounces him, trying to calm him down and pats his back gently—something he’s seen moms do on TV to calm children down. “Tell me what you want, and I’ll get it for you, I swear.”

Jisung’s answer to that is to cry even louder and Jaemin thinks he’s seriously going to start crying as well.

His saving grace comes in the form of his phone ringing with _Mark Lee_ flashing on the screen. Jaemin almost, _almost_ , lets out a sob in relief and practically flies over to answer the phone. “Hello?”

“I can’t believe this,” Mark swears under his breath. “Anyways, I know somebody. I have a friend, his name is Donghyuck, who’s kind of been looking for another job? Anyways, he has like, four younger siblings so he has that experience with kids that you want. He also majored in early childhood education back in undergrad—”

“He can start like, right now if he’s available.” Jaemin cuts Mark off in the middle of his sentence. “Tomorrow, if he can’t today.”

Mark is silent for a second. “Um, don’t you want to meet him first?”

“You’re vouching for him _and_ he has experience with kids. What more could I want?” Jaemin reasons. “Wait, does he know how to cook?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“Okay. He can start at his earliest convenience. _Please_.”

“Ooooookay,” Mark says slowly. “I’ll let him know, then. Do you want his number?”

“Yes, please.” Jaemin sighs. Jisung’s calmed down since his phone call with Mark started, thankfully, and Jaemin gives him a kiss on the forehead. Jisung sniffles, turning to bury his face into Jaemin’s shoulder, and Jaemin thinks he kind of understands him. His son. God, he’s never going to get used to this.

“I’ll text it to you,” Mark tells him. “Okay, I have to go. My lunch break’s almost over. I’ll call you later. Maybe.”

Jaemin rolls his eyes. “Thanks, Mark. I seriously owe you one.”

“You can give me a raise,” Mark says cheekily. “I’ll see you later, Jaemin.”

“Bye.” Jaemin stares at his phone, giving Jisung his full attention when he starts to squirm in his arms again. Sighing, he throws his phone on the couch and rubs the top of Jisung’s head gently, murmuring, “What is it? What’s making you so agitated, hm?”

Logically speaking, it’s most likely the new environment that’s stressing him out. But that doesn’t mean Jaemin knows what to do to help Jisung other than keeping him in arms while he tries to work from home.

The thirty seconds when he had set Jisung down to go use the bathroom had been the worst thirty seconds of Jaemin’s life, and Jaemin swears to not let go of Jisung until he can figure out how to keep him calm and free from tears.

“Are you hungry?” Jaemin tries in vain, knowing that Jisung definitely cannot reply. “It’s time for lunch, isn’t it?”

Jisung lets out a whimper and a few more teardrops escape his eyes and roll down his cheeks, and Jaemin is quick to wipe them away, dropping a kiss on each of Jisung’s eyes. “Let’s try getting some food into you one more time, yeah?”

He takes the silence as a ‘yes’ and does his best to prepare a formula for Jisung. He sets Jisung on the counter for a second, keeping him steady by having Jisung lean on his chest as he checks the temperature. When it’s cooled down enough for him to feed Jisung, he walks back to the living room so that he can sit on the couch while feeding Jisung.

Thankfully, Jisung drinks the milk without any fuss, and Jaemin thanks God for not being an asshole this time around. It’s the small blessings, Jaemin tells himself. The small blessings are what makes things worth it.

After he finishes feeding Jisung (and burping him, which is something he’s supposed to, apparently. Jaemin hadn’t known before 7 AM today), he checks his messages and finds that Mark has sent him Donghyuck’s contact information, and he types back a quick thank you before saving the number and adding it to his contacts.

Jisung, who’s apparently satisfied now that he’s been fed, babbles away on Jaemin’s lap, playing with the strings of Jaemin’s hoodie. Jaemin coos at him a little, bouncing his legs a little. Jisung squeals in delight, clapping his hands. Jaemin’s heart melts a little at how precious Jisung is, and he already knows that Jisung will have him wrapped around his little fingers given time.

“Shouldn’t we be putting you down for a nap soon, kiddo?” Jaemin murmurs, rubbing his nose against Jisung’s eliciting another fit of giggles from the baby. “Come on, let’s see if I can put you to sleep for a bit so that I can get some work done. And get you a babysitter, hopefully.”

It takes a little while for Jaemin to get Jisung settled down enough to take a nap, but eventually Jisung closes his eyes and drifts off to dreamland. Jaemin tucks him in carefully, dropping another kiss on his forehead before padding out of his room to grab his phone and laptop.

He decides to work on the floor, leaning his back against his bed in case Jisung wakes up earlier than he’s supposed to or somehow manages to move enough and gets too close to the edge.

The sound of Jisung’s breathing almost lulls Jaemin to sleep but he does manage to get through a good chunk of code and goes through a majority of this month’s reports before deciding to take a break and text Donghyuck.

He types and retypes his message a million times before settling for a simple “hi im jaemin and im in desperate need for a babysitter pls help me.”

Okay, so maybe the message isn’t very simple, but Jaemin is desperate, and desperate times call for desperate measures.

✲

 **Jaemin** [1:15pm]: hi im jaemin and i am in desperate need for a babysitter pls help me

 **Donghyuck** [1:23pm]: lmao  
 **Donghyuck** [1:23pm]: yeah I heard the story from mark

 **Jaemin** [1:23pm]: can u stop by today?

 **Donghyuck** [1:25pm]: uh I get off my shift at 4  
 **Donghyuck** [1:25pm]: I can probably get there by like 6?

 **Jaemin** [1:26pm]: ok thank u for this omg  
 **Jaemin** [1:26pm]: dw about dinner i have to cook anyways u can join us for dinner

 **Donghyuck** [1:30pm]: um

 **Jaemin** [1:30pm]: see u at 6!

 **Donghyuck** [1:30pm]: … ok see u at 6

✲

“So.” Donghyuck looks like he has a lot of questions to ask but doesn’t know where to start. “Where did the… baby come from?”

Jaemin is honestly impressed that Donghyuck’s managed to last this long before addressing the elephant in the room, and he thinks that Donghyuck is more than capable—definitely _way_ more capable than Jaemin—of helping him take care of Jisung.

“Um.” Jaemin doesn’t really know what to say. “He was an… unexpected surprise?”

Donghyuck raises an eyebrow at that. “An unexpected surprise. Right, okay.”

“Yeah,” Jaemin says lamely. “An unexpected surprise who arrived at my doorstep yesterday morning. Ta-dah?” He does the little jazz hand motion, offering Donghyuck what’s supposed to be a smile but is a grimace instead.

“He just… arrived at your _doorstep_?” Donghyuck gapes, clearly at a loss for words. “What?”

Jaemin can sense the confusion rolling off of Donghyuck in waves as he alternates between looking at Jaemin and Jisung. And honestly? Jaemin gets it, because yeah. He’s still confused as fuck too. “Yup.”

“How does that even happen?” Donghyuck sounds like he’s genuinely impressed at all this. “I thought these things only happened on TV.”

“Me too,” Jaemin says dryly, feeling the exhaustion hitting him all at once. “Until yesterday, at least. Anyways, long story short I slept with someone while we were drunk and she dropped Jisung off at my doorstep yesterday morning, and now we’re here.”

Donghyuck whistles lowly, holding his hand out for Jisung to take and play with when Jisung turns to look at the source of sound. “Well, he’s really cute. Does he take after you or the mom?”

“He’s got a good mix of both of us,” replies Jaemin, giving Jisung a light poke on the cheek. Jisung turns his head to look at Jaemin at that, giggling a little, and Jaemin’s eyes soften. “I just hope he got his mom’s brains instead of mine.”

Donghyuck laughs at that, cooing when Jisung gurgles and laughs with them, kicking his legs and clapping his hands. “Mark tells me you’re head of the software developers at your company though?”

“Connections.” Jaemin shrugs, not really caring if Donghyuck judges him or not. “My family owns the company, so…”

“Still.” Donghyuck smiles, unknowingly lifting an unknown weight off of Jaemin’s shoulders. “You’d have to have some sort of smarts and skills to get where you are now. Don’t discredit yourself too much, Jaemin. Connections can only get you so far if can’t back yourself up with the skills.”

Jaemin can’t help but wonder where Mark had found Donghyuck, and why he’d kept the sun-kissed boy to himself all these years. “God, where did Mark find you?”

Donghyuck gives him a wicked grin. “In his worst nightmares.”

And just like that, Jaemin finds himself thinking that maybe, just maybe, Donghyuck is someone dangerous who shouldn’t be taken lightly.

They set up a schedule after they finish up dinner. With the additional (and handsome) income from Jaemin, Donghyuck no longer has to take up as many shifts at the café like he used to, and so they agree that Donghyuck will come and watch Jisung on the weekdays while Jaemin is at work.

If he had it his way, Jaemin would really prefer it if Donghyuck could come help out on the weekends as well, but Donghyuck sets his foot down and tells him that Jaemin can survive two days spending some time alone with his son.

(Jaemin would like to beg to differ, but if the three hours he’s spent with Donghyuck has taught him anything, it’s to not argue with said boy if you value your life.)

“When can you start?” Jaemin asks, walking Donghyuck out of the door. Jisung has already been washed and tucked into bed.

“Mark told me that you wanted me to start tomorrow?” Donghyuck tilts his head, silently asking for a confirmation.

“Only if you can,” Jaemin says. “I know you have that job at the café, so—”

“I can start tomorrow, don’t worry, boss man.” Donghyuck shoots him a grin complete with finger guns, and Jaemin dies a little more inside. “I’ll be here bright and early at 9 AM?”

“You are a gift to mankind, Donghyuck,” Jaemin sighs. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”

Donghyuck beams, giving Jaemin one last wave before leaving. “See you tomorrow!” he calls over his shoulder, and Jaemin stands out there until Donghyuck disappears into the elevator.

✲

With Donghyuck coming over to look after Jisung, Jaemin manages to get out of the house to run to IKEA to buy a crib for Jisung, thanking his lucky stars that past-Jaemin had decided to treat himself to a roomy, two-bedroom condo instead of a studio like he had originally planned to.

“So, how’s the babysitter?” Renjun asks, and Jaemin dodges a crowd of old ladies ogling at some of the kitchen display before answering.

“I’m going to give Mark the biggest bonus on Christmas,” Jaemin says. “God bless that man.”

Renjun snorts. “Is he with Jisung right now?”

“Yeah.” Jaemin sighs, pausing to examine a couple of cribs before moving on. “I’m at IKEA trying to pick out a crib for Jisung. God, why do these things come in so many different designs and material. I don’t even know what to get.”

“Just get the nicest, most expensive one, rich boy,” Renjun says, sounding distracted. “Or, I don’t know, ask a worker like most people do, Jaemin.”

Jaemin hums in response, staring at the rows and rows of cribs, feeling lost at where he’s supposed to go from here. “Dude, I might seriously start crying in the middle of IKEA, oh my God.”

“You’re a mess, Jaemin,” Renjun sighs deeply. There’s some typing on Renjun’s end before it stops and Renjun says, “Google says that any material should be okay as long as it’s sturdy. Just remember to line it with some pillows and stuff to make it like, not so… hard.”

“Not so hard,” Jaemin deadpans. “Thank you, Renjun. You are so much help.”

“I live to please,” Renjun sniffs. “So, the babysitter.”

“The babysitter,” Jaemin repeats, indicating with his tone that Renjun should elaborate. When Renjun stays silent, Jaemin sighs. “What about him?”

Jaemin can _feel_ Renjun rolling his eyes through his phone. “What’s he like?”

“Um.” Jaemin gets distracted by a tub of stuffed animals. “He’s nice. Do you think Jisung’s too young to play with stuffed animals?”

“Huh?” Renjun sounds taken aback. “Uh, I mean, he’ll probably enjoy hugging them or something. I don’t have a child, Jaemin, in case you forgot, so I’m just as lost as you are in this department.”

“I’ll get him a baby shark doll,” Jaemin announces. Renjun tells him that he doesn’t really care, but Jaemin ignores him. “Anyways, Donghyuck seems nice, and he’s a hundred times more experienced with kids than I am.”

Renjun hums. “Is he cute?” he asks, and Jaemin pauses—only for a second, but that’s enough for Renjun to snort, sounding smug when he says, “You should ask him out. I texted Mark this morning, and he said that part of the reason he introduced you to Donghyuck is because both of you seem _lonely_.”

“One day, Renjun,” Jaemin says idly, already starting to plan Renjun’s and Mark’s murder. Forget what he said about giving the man a bonus; Jaemin’s going to make his life Hell at work. “I’ll make your death look like an accident.”

Renjun laughs loudly and Jaemin hangs up on his best friend without an ounce of guilt. Renjun can rot for all he cares, Jaemin thinks, taking a picture of the most expensive crib and continuing to make his way through IKEA.

✲

_the gay musketeers (5)_

**Renjun** [3:01pm]: send me pics of jisung

 **Jeno** [3:05pm]: omg me 2!!!

 **Jaemin** [3:23pm]: shouldn’t you two be WORKING

 **Jeno** [3:30pm]: on a break lol

 **Jaemin** [3:32pm]: for 30 minutes?????

 **Jeno** [3:32pm]: :P

 **Renjun** [3:36pm]: i have the day off today  
 **Renjun** [3:36pm]: perks of working a 17 hour shift the day before  
 **Renjun** [3:36pm]: so, pictures of jisung, pls

 **Mark** [3:40pm]: Stop spamming pls some of us have actual work to do

 **Jeno** [3:41pm]: omg hi mark

 **Mark** [3:41pm]: Hi jeno

 **Jaemin** [3:42pm]: hey mark

 **Mark** [3:42pm]: Hi jaemin

 **Jaemin** [3:43pm]: that wasn’t a greeting  
 **Jaemin** [3:43pm]: you better run for ur fuking life

 **Mark** [3:45pm]: ????

 **Renjun** [3:46pm]: lol  
 **Renjun** [3:46pm]: hello im still waiting for pictures of my godson

 **Mark** [3:47pm]: Woah woah woah wait. I definitely should get the rights of being Jisung’s godfather. I literally introduced Jaemin to Hyuck.

 **Renjun** [3:47pm]: absolutely not u havent even SEEN jisung yet

 **Mark** [3:49pm]: Okay, and???

 **Jaemin** [3:55pm]: neither of u get to be jisung’s godfather stfu!!!!!

 **Lucas** [4:01pm]: oh wow hi guys!  
 **Lucas** [4:01pm]: wait whos jisung??  
 **Lucas** [4:01pm]: and why are mark and renjun fighting over godfather rights???

 **Lucas** [4:05pm]: hello????

 **Lucas** [4:29pm]: somebody?????


	3. Chapter 3

“Good morning,” Donghyuck chirps, setting down the paper bag he’s carrying. “How was your weekend?”

Jaemin sighs, rubbing his face with a hand. “Tiring. Scary. Jisung came down with something, so we’ve been running back and forth from the hospital and here. His fever finally broke last night, though, but he’s still a little cranky from, well, everything.”

“Oh, no.” Donghyuck frowns, pausing from where he’s been laying out an impressive spread of bagels and cream cheese. “Is he still sleeping?”

“Yeah.” Jaemin nods towards Jisung’s bedroom. “He barely got any the past few days, so I figured it would be better to just wait for him to wake up on his own.”

Donghyuck nods in approval. “Good choice. You shouldn’t let him sleep for too long, though. Otherwise his whole sleep schedule will be messed up. I think letting him sleep for thirty more minutes should be okay?”

“Thanks, Donghyuck.” Jaemin collapses into a chair, slumping down from the fatigue that hits him. “I’m taking the day off of work, by the way. I meant to call you earlier to let you know you didn’t have to come out, but I honestly woke up like, five minutes before you rang the doorbell.”

“Don’t worry about it, Jaemin, seriously,” Donghyuck reassures him. “I’m here anyways, and you could probably use the extra help. Catch up on some sleep while I watch Jisung.”

“What would I do without you,” Jaemin groans. “I’ll pay you extra for today. I’m going to go try waking Jisung up.”

Donghyuck forces Jaemin to eat a piece of bagel before he can walk off. “Jaemin, I’m serious. Don’t worry about it. Go wake him up and I’ll take care of things from here, okay?”

Jaemin sighs, chewing on the bagel and swallowing before he answers, “You’re the best, Duckie.”

If the nickname that slips out bothers Donghyuck, he doesn’t show it. “I know. Now go and wake your son, boss man. We need to get a little food in him. Did the doctor prescribe any medication?”

“Just a cold medicine for babies,” Jaemin sighs. “Jisung doesn’t like it very much. Shocking.”

Donghyuck laughs, patting Jaemin on the back. “Don’t worry. I grew up with four younger siblings. I know a thing or two about feeding unwilling babies their medicine.”

“A blessing from above,” Jaemin declares just as they hear Jisung start crying. “Okay, that’s my cue to leave.”

“Go, go, go,” Donghyuck cheers, still laughing. The exhaustion that Jaemin feels in his bones does nothing for the surge of affection he feels for Donghyuck, and he truly is grateful that he’s so willing to help Jaemin and how he genuinely cares for Jisung.

“I’m serious, by the way,” Jaemin says, pausing on his way to get Jisung. “Thank you for everything, Donghyuck.”

Donghyuck blinks, clearly taken by surprise, but a radiant smile soon makes its way onto his face. “You’re welcome, Jaemin. You don’t have to thank me. I’m more than happy to help.”

Jaemin smiles at that and continues his way to Jisung’s bedroom. Jisung is sitting up on his crib, chest heaving with cries. His cheeks are flushed, and he looks agitated. When Jaemin enters the room, Jisung immediately stretches his arms up for Jaemin to pick him up, and Jaemin feels his heart break at the clear exhaustion on Jisung’s face.

“Oh, honey,” Jaemin sighs, picking Jisung up and cradling him close to his chest. Jisung whimpers, clutching onto Jaemin’s shirt as tightly as he can. “Don’t worry. We’re going to nurse you back to health in no time, okay?”

He wipes away the tear tracks on Jisung’s cheeks, pressing his lips against Jisung’s forehead before pulling away. Jisung sniffles, whining a little bit but makes himself comfortable in Jaemin’s arms.

“Let’s get you some breakfast, yeah?” Jaemin murmurs, rubbing Jisung’s back and walks out of the bedroom. Donghyuck gives him a sympathetic smile which Jaemin tries to return, but fails.

“Aw, Jisungie, look at you,” Donghyuck says quietly, walking up and resting the back of his hand on Jisung’s forehead to check his temperature. “His fever isn’t back. That’s a good sign.”

“Yeah,” Jaemin agrees. They both frown at the way Jisung whines and turns away from Donghyuck, burying his face into the juncture between Jaemin’s neck and shoulder instead. “Well, that’s new.”

Donghyuck chuckles quietly. “It’s probably the stress from being sick. He’s not going to want to let go of you for now. Think you have some energy left in you to feed him?”

“Of course,” Jaemin snorts under his breath. “Do you mind—?”

“I got it,” Donghyuck says, gesturing for Jaemin to sit down. “You should eat, too. I have a feeling that you didn’t do much of that this weekend.”

Jaemin wonders how Donghyuck seems to know so much more than Jaemin tells him, but he has a feeling that it comes with being the oldest of four, as well as having worked with kids for a majority of his undergrad career.

He watches as Donghyuck patters around the kitchen with ease, clearly comfortable after having been working for Jaemin for the past two months. He finishes scooping up the baby food Jaemin’s made over the weekend into a little bowl and places it in the middle of the table.

“Let him wake up a little more,” he suggests and pushes a plate of bagels in front of Jaemin. “Eat.”

“Okay, okay.” Jaemin concedes and shifts a little so that he can hold Jisung with one arm and eat with the other. “Did you buy all this?”

“I get a discount at the bakery, and Taeil hyung loves me,” Donghyuck chirps, already digging into a bagel himself. “I think we should try introducing solid food to him, soon. Soft stuff first, like sweet potatoes, maybe. Or cereal. You mentioned he has a couple of allergies, right?”

“Uh huh,” Jaemin tries to say through a mouthful of bagel. He swallows quickly, coughing a little. “He’s allergic to peanuts, kiwis, and shrimp,” he recites. “I’m allergic to kiwis, so we don’t have to worry about that, and I’m not a big fan of shrimp or seafood, either, so there won’t be much of that around the house.”

Donghyuck hums, nodding as he makes a mental note of the list. “And the peanuts?”

Jaemin grimaces. “I used to exclusively live off of peanut butter sandwiches during finals week when I was in school, but I threw it all out after Jisung came along. I know he’s not eating solid food yet, but I didn’t want to risk it just in case.”

“You know, for all the insecurities and doubts you had in the beginning, you’re a good dad, boss man,” Donghyuck observes. “You have a habit of putting yourself down too much.”

“Self-deprecating jokes is part of my charm.” Jaemin shrugs, biting off another piece of bagel. “This is good. I should stop by the café one day.”

Donghyuck raises an eyebrow. “You would go all the way to Queens just for bagels? You could probably get better bagels here, Jaemin.”

“Well,” Jaemin hesitates. “Maybe if I ever manage to convince Renjun and Jeno to watch Jisung for a day.”

“Good luck with that,” Donghyuck chortles.

Jaemin grins back but quickly frowns when he notices the dark circles on Donghyuck’s face that seem to get darker and darker with each passing week. “Hey, Donghyuck, are you getting enough sleep?”

Donghyuck raises an eyebrow at Jaemin’s question. “Uh, yeah? The only time I don’t is if I make the unfortunate mistake of getting into a new TV show, but other than that, yeah I get enough sleep.”

“Are you sure?” Jaemin leans forward, making sure not to jostle Jisung too much, to get a closer look at Donghyuck’s face. “Is what I’m paying you not enough? You should’ve told me, Donghyuck, I could’ve given you a raise—”

“No!” Donghyuck straightens up and looks at Jaemin with wide eyes. “No,” he repeats much more quietly when Jisung whimpers. “What you’re paying me is more than enough, Jaemin. I’m fine, I promise.”

Jaemin wants to press further, but drops it because ultimately, he doesn’t have any right to tell Donghyuck what to do. “Okay. I do feel bad about you having to commute for over two hours every day.”

“I don’t mind, really.” Donghyuck reassure him again. “When will you stop feeling so guilty about me doing my job that you’re literally paying me for? I swear, I’ve never had an employer as sympathetic as you, Jaemin.”

“Hey, my feelings of guilt are perfectly valid here,” Jaemin complains. He stops, though, when Jisung starts to get antsy in his arms, and Jaemin immediately turns his attention to his son. “Are you hungry, Jisung? Do you want to eat?”

Donghyuck grabs the spoon and scoops a bit of the baby food, holding it out towards Jisung. “Say ah, Jisungie,” he coos. Jisung stares at the spoon before opening his mouth, leaning forward a little out of the impatience that Jaemin is _sure_ Jisung inherited from him. “Good boy.”

Jaemin wipes Jisung’s mouth when some of the food dribbles out, unable to stop the coos when Jisung’s face brightens up, seemingly enjoying the food. “Okay, so now we know that he likes carrots and potatoes.”

“Look at him, eating his veggies.” Donghyuck laughs, feeding Jisung another spoonful. “Enjoy this while it lasts, Jaemin.”

“I will.” Jaemin laughs as well, wiping Jisung’s mouth again. The baby looks at him and Donghyuck laughing and gurgles, clapping his hands. The happiness seems to be infecting Jisung as well, and Jaemin’s just glad to see his son smiling for the first time in days.

“Save the tears of joy for _after_ we finish feeding him, old man,” Donghyuck warns jokingly, feeding Jisung when the baby opens his mouth impatiently for another bite.

Relief floods Jaemin as Jisung finishes the entire bowl, appetite having returned. “God, I’m just so glad to see him eat again. I could barely get him to eat even a little bit this weekend.”

“It’s okay. The worst is probably over now.” Donghyuck smiles and pokes Jisung with a finger, giggling when the baby giggles and tries to grab his finger. “Feeling much better, Jisungie? You had your dad worried sick, you know.”

Jisung babbles out some gibberish in response, and Jaemin chuckles, winding his arms around Jisung’s middle to hold him a little closer, nuzzling his face on the top of Jisung’s head. “It’s okay, sweetie. Let’s get some medicine into you now, yeah?”

Obviously, Jisung has no idea what’s going on. When Jaemin tries to hand him over to Donghyuck so that Jaemin can get the medicine, Jisung immediately screams, wailing as he struggles in Donghyuck’s arms. He holds his arms out, crying and desperately reaching out for Jaemin.

“Okay, okay.” Jaemin panics and immediately takes Jisung back from Donghyuck, who doesn’t look surprised at all.

“Don’t worry. Where’s the medicine? I’ll go get it.” Donghyuck taps the back of Jaemin’s hand and stands up.

“It’s in the drawer. Next to the sink,” Jaemin tells him. Donghyuck gets the medicine, and they spend the next fifteen minutes trying to convince Jisung to drink the medicine, which he adamantly refuses to if the shaking of his head and constant attempts to hide in Jaemin’s chest is anything to go by.

Eventually, they do manage to get Jisung to take the medicine, though it’s not without consequences. Jisung doesn’t stop crying and Jaemin feels like he’s hanging by a thread as he bounces Jisung in his arms, trying to calm him down.

Donghyuck cleans up the dining table, putting away the leftover bagels and cream cheese. “How’s his temperature?” he asks after he’s finished cleaning. Jaemin pulls Jisung away a bit, just enough to check his temperature with his hand and shakes his head.

“I think it’s coming back,” he says, biting his lips in worry. “Can you go get me the thermometer? It’s in the bathroom.”

“Of course.” Donghyuck quickly leaves the kitchen and comes back with the thermometer in hand. “Here.” He hands it over to Jaemin, who doesn’t waste any time and checks Jisung’s temperature.

When he reads the numbers on the thermometer, Jaemin curses under his breath. “His fever’s back.”

“We can try waiting it out for a bit to see if it breaks on its own.” Donghyuck sounds like he’s trying to calm Jaemin down more than Jisung. “It might be because he’s crying and agitated. Let’s try calming him down a bit first, okay?”

“Okay,” Jaemin whispers. He wonders if this is how his parents felt whenever he and Jaehyun got sick as kids, and he desperately wishes that it was him that was sick instead of Jisung.

Jaemin doesn’t let go of Jisung for a single second, pacing around the living room and patting Jisung on the back to try and give him some semblance of peace. Donghyuck disappears into Jisung’s bedroom and comes back with one of Jisung’s blankets, which he helps wrap around Jisung.

Nothing they do works, however, but Jisung tires himself out after what feels like forever. His sobs subside into little hiccups, and Jaemin feels his heart break with every whimper that Jisung lets out.

Just as they think the worst is over when Jisung finally goes quiet, he ends up throwing up all over Jaemin’s shoulders. Donghyuck jumps up and rushes to get a towel to help Jaemin clean up while the latter stares at Jisung in surprise.

Jisung starts wailing again, even louder and more heartbreaking than the last.

“You have a car, right? We should get him to the hospital.” Even Donghyuck is pale at Jisung’s condition and he helps Jaemin clean them up the best that they can before they leave.

“Can you drive?” Jaemin is pale and he buckles Jisung up in his car seat the best he can with the baby thrashing.

“Yes.” Donghyuck takes the keys that Jaemin hold out for him, and Jaemin pats Jisung’s stomach, trying to calm him down. Jisung hiccups, whimpering and clutching onto Jaemin’s fingers tightly, and Jaemin feels the tears starting to form in his eyes.

“It’s okay, baby,” Jaemin murmurs, kissing Jisung’s fingers. “You’ll be okay.”

Jisung responds by whimpering and tightening his grip on Jaemin’s fingers, teardrops rolling down his face. Jaemin wishes that there was _something more_ that he could do for Jisung, and cries with him on their way to the hospital.

✲

The nurses do their best to assure Jaemin that Jisung is alright, and that it’s most likely a minor ear infection.

“This is something common, don’t worry, Mr. Na,” the nurse says, motioning for Jaemin and Donghyuck to take a seat on one of the chairs. Jaemin doesn’t sit down and stays standing instead, tapping his foot anxiously as he watches the doctor and nurses fuss over Jisung. “We see it happening all the time. He’ll be fine in no time.”

It doesn’t do anything to quell Jaemin’s nerves, and it isn’t until Donghyuck grabs his hand and squeezes that Jaemin feels grounded again.

“He’s going to be fine, Jaemin,” Donghyuck says quietly. Jaemin squeezes his hand back and watches as the doctors take Jisung’s temperature.

Jisung hasn’t stopped crying since they got to the hospital, and only started to cry more when Jaemin had been forced to let go of him.

“God.” Jaemin wipes the tears away with the hand that isn’t holding Donghyuck’s. “How do parents do this every single time?”

“I wouldn’t know. I’m not a parent,” Donghyuck says, squeezing Jaemin’s hand again. “He’s going to be fine, Jaemin. Don’t worry.”

“How can I not,” Jaemin whispers. Jisung lets out another wail, catching sight of Jaemin and starts to struggle in the nurse’s arms.

“Dada,” Jisung cries out, and Jaemin’s world goes still. “Dada!”

Jaemin stumbles forward when Donghyuck gently pushes him forward by the small of his back. The doctor steps to the side to let Jaemin through and Jaemin quickly takes Jisung from the nurse, who gives him a sympathetic smile at how frazzled Jaemin looks.

Jisung’s cries subside slowly, turning into hiccups.

“We’ve prescribed some antibiotics for him. You can pick them up at the pharmacy on the first floor,” the doctor tells him, handing him a blue pad with a medication scribbled onto it. “He should be fine after a few days, but I would continue to monitor his temperature. Come back if it doesn’t go down or if the infection doesn’t go away.”

“Thank you,” Jaemin whispers. Donghyuck quietly enters the room and takes the prescription from Jaemin with a tense smile.

“I’ll go pick up the medicine,” Donghyuck says. “Meet you downstairs?”

“Yeah, okay. Thanks, Donghyuck.” Jaemin doesn’t really process what happens after that, and before he knows it the three of them are back home.

“Do you want me to stay?” Donghyuck asks, looking hesitant. “I can make you something to eat before I go.”

Jaemin sighs, checking to make sure that Jisung’s fast asleep. “If you don’t mind, yeah. I’m really sorry about today.”

Donghyuck rolls his eyes, pushing Jaemin towards Jisung’s bedroom. “Stop apologizing. Go put him to bed and wash up. No offense, boss man, but you kind of stink.”

Jaemin huffs out a laugh but does what Donghyuck says. He’s extra careful when he sets Jisung down in his crib and quickly washes himself. The shower helps Jaemin with his nerves, and he does feel a lot better when he puts on clean clothes.

Padding out of his bedroom, Jaemin is lured to the kitchen by the smell of _kimchi jjigae_. “I didn’t even know I had kimchi left.”

“I brought some over on Friday,” Donghyuck says, turning off the stove and scooping some of the stew into a bowl that’s already been filled with rice. “I’m not surprised you didn’t notice. You had a busy weekend, after all.”

Jaemin sighs, drying his hair with his towel. “Thank you.”

“Anytime, boss man,” Donghyuck chirps. “Jisung should stay asleep for a bit longer. You should get some sleep too after you eat.”

“Do you mind sticking around for the rest of the day?” Jaemin asks, rubbing his face with his hand. “I don’t know if I can do this alone today.”

Donghyuck’s face softens and he gives Jaemin a small smile. “Of course.”

They sit in silence while finishing their food and Donghyuck literally kicks Jaemin out of the kitchen when he tries to help wash the dishes.

“This is _my_ kitchen,” Jaemin protests, watching dumbfoundedly as Donghyuck starts to do the dishes. “I am your _boss_.”

“Yeah, well, boss man needs to get some sleep before he keels over.” Donghyuck gives him an unimpressed look. “Seriously, Jaemin. Get some sleep.”

Jaemin concedes, thanking Donghyuck one last time before stumbling towards his bed room, the beginnings of a headache starting to form.

He’s out like a light as soon as his head hits the pillow, dreaming of warmth that seems to escape him the more he tries to reach out for it.

Reality blurs with dreams and Jaemin wonders if he’s hallucinating the image of Donghyuck frowning down at him. He feels something cold and wet dabbing at his face, but Jaemin can’t tell if it’s a dream or not.

“Donghyuck?” he croaks, blinking rapidly in an attempt to see through the haze of sleep. He reaches out for something—anything—to grasp, and Donghyuck offers him his hand. “What—?”

“Relax, boss man,” Donghyuck whispers. “You have a fever. You must’ve caught it from Jisung. He’s with your friends, Renjun and Jeno right now, don’t worry.”

Jaemin mumbles something incoherent, relaxing back into his pillow as sleep comes to take over him again. He doesn’t let go of Donghyuck’s hand, and Donghyuck doesn’t let go either. “Don’t leave, please.”

Donghyuck cards his fingers through Jaemin’s hair. “I won’t,” he whispers. “Get some rest, Jaemin. We’ll be here when you wake up.”

“Okay,” breathes Jaemin. “Thank you Donghyuck. Love you.”

He doesn’t register the way Donghyuck goes still at that, already back on his way to dreamland. The grip Donghyuck has on Jaemin’s hand tightens for a brief second before relaxing, letting Jaemin’s hand fall on its own.

“If only you meant that, boss man,” Donghyuck mumbles, carding his fingers through Jaemin’s hair one last time before standing up. “If only you meant that.”


	4. Chapter 4

Something in their dynamics shift after that day Jaemin had ended up getting sick as well. Jaemin can’t remember what happened exactly, but Donghyuck seems more reserved than usual—which says a lot, since he’s never been too open with Jaemin in the first place.

“Did I do something?” Jaemin asks one night when he comes home from work. He frowns at the way Donghyuck jumps and stares at Jaemin in what can only be described as _fear_ , and Jaemin doesn’t know _why_.

“Huh?” Donghyuck pretends like he hasn’t literally jumped a foot into the air just now. “What do you mean?”

Jaemin gestures vaguely with his hands. “I mean, you seem pretty, I don’t know, jumpy around me these days.”

“Oh.” Donghyuck blinks and resumes packing up. Jisung watches them from where he’s sitting on his baby walker, blinking up at them curiously. “You must be imagining things.”

“Right.” Jaemin doesn’t quite believe him, but he doesn’t want to scare Donghyuck off. “I guess so. Anyways, do you want to stay for dinner tonight? It’s kind of late.”

Donghyuck chews on his lips, looking like he really wants to reject Jaemin’s offer, but can’t think of a viable reason to really say no. “Sure, why not. What are we having?”

“Are you craving anything?” he asks, shrugging of his coat and throwing it in the general direction of the couch. He goes over to where Jisung is and crouches down to be eye-level with his son. “How was your day, Jisungie? Did you have fun with Duckie today?” he coos, smiling when Jisung holds his arms out for Jaemin, squealing in delight when Jaemin picks him up.

“You don’t really have much food left,” Donghyuck says with a small frown. “I meant to get some groceries for you today but—”

“Okay, stop.” Jaemin holds his hands out and rolls his eyes, moving his head away from Jisung, who’s recently taken a liking to poking Jaemin’s eyes. “You’re not my maid, Donghyuck. It’s not your job to get me groceries. Wait, have you been stocking up on food for me?”

Donghyuck winces when he realizes he’s been caught. “Uh, a little bit? Not much, I swear. Just a couple of cereal here and there when you’re running low and I may or may not have replenished your ramen stash, though that was more for my benefit than yours.”

“Donghyuck,” Jaemin says sternly, straightening up and grabbing Jisung’s hands to stop him from trying to grab Jaemin’s nose. “What did you use to pay for the groceries you got for us?”

“Um. My card?” Donghyuck offers hesitantly, pouting when Jaemin glares at him. “It wasn’t much, I swear! You didn’t even notice.”

Jaemin sighs. “I’m going to reimburse you for that, and you can’t stop me. Anyways, we can just order out for dinner tonight. What are you feeling?”

“Pizza?” Donghyuck suggests, following Jaemin to the living room. “I’m fine with anything, really. What about you?”

“I’m fine with pizza,” Jaemin says. “What toppings do you want?”

“Pineapples,” Donghyuck immediately says, grinning widely at the way Jaemin quite literally freezes.

“I can’t believe this,” Jaemin mutters under his breath. “Here, take Jisung for a second so I can go get my laptop.”

Donghyuck laughs, taking Jisung and rubbing his nose against the baby’s. “Has he started talking yet?”

“Just the occasional ‘dada’ and gibberish here and there,” Jaemin replies distractedly, turning his laptop on and pulling up the website and ordering their pizzas. “Oh, he did say your name this weekend, though. Renjun was pissed.”

When Donghyuck doesn’t answer, Jaemin looks up and finds that he’s looking at Jisung in a mixture of surprise and awe.

“He said my name?” he whispers, blinking rapidly.

“Well, not really your name, but he did say something that sounded suspiciously like ‘Duckie’, so yeah. He said your name.” Jaemin shrugs, smiling softly at the look on Donghyuck’s face. “Why are you so surprised? You spend the most time with him out of any of us, really. Even more than me, if we’re being honest.”

Donghyuck shrugs, giving Jisung’s cheeks a little kiss. “I don’t know. It’s a weird feeling. I feel honored, kind of, I guess. How mad is Renjun?”

“So mad,” Jaemin sighs happily. “He was already mad that I didn’t name him Jisung’s godfather, but now that Jisung said your name before his he’s feeling murderous.”

“Should I be scared?” Donghyuck laughs, handing Jisung back to Jaemin when he plops down on the couch next to him.

“Maybe,” Jaemin says, grinning in satisfaction when Donghyuck finally seems to be at ease around him again. They turn on the TV, making small talk while waiting for the pizza to come and holding serious conversation with Jisung, who doesn’t stop babbling at them from his spot on Jaemin’s lap.

It’s domestic, and it feels like _home_ , Jaemin thinks. He watches Donghyuck eat, his attention on the movie they turned on.

The image of Donghyuck staying here, with them, forever is something that comes _so_ easily to Jaemin that it scares him.

“Something wrong?” Donghyuck asks when he catches Jaemin staring.

Now it’s Jaemin’s turn to jump in surprise, blinking quickly. “Huh? No, nothing’s wrong.”

“Okay. If you say so.” Donghyuck shrugs and turns back to watch the movie, laughing at the jokes they make. Jaemin tries to stamp down the feelings of panic that rise as he finds himself craving more than the few moments he gets with Donghyuck each day.

 _You have a son_ , Jaemin reminds himself firmly, forcing himself the watch the movie with the familiar weight of Jisung resting against his chest. _You have a son that you have to look after now. Don’t let yourself get distracted, Na._

✲

It’s only Monday, which is too early in the week for Jaemin to be having an existential crisis, and yet, here he was, sitting in the middle of a brunch café, having just that.

“I think I like Donghyuck,” Jaemin admits. He, Renjun, Jeno, and Mark are out for lunch when Jaemin drops the bomb on them.

Jeno, to his credit, at least _pretends_ to be surprised while Renjun just flat out stares at Jaemin like he’s some kind of idiot. Mark just sighs, shaking his head and continues to eat his food.

“Okay, and?” Renjun raises an eyebrow. “Are we supposed surprised at this, or something?”

“Come on, Renjun. It’s the baby’s first real feelings for somebody,” Jeno drawls, turning his attention back to his food. “We should support him.”

“Yeah, okay. _Pretends to be shocked_ ,” Renjun deadpans. “Is that better?”

Jaemin sneers, “You guys are the _worst_.”

“I did nothing,” Mark defends himself. “I’m just trying to eat my food.”

“So, Jaemin.” Renjun sets his fork down and leans forward, lacing his fingers together and resting his chin on top of them. “How did you finally manage to reach this conclusion after the past three months of you awkwardly dancing around Donghyuck?”

“I didn’t _awkwardly dance_ around him,” Jaemin protests.

Even Mark has to snort at that. “Dude, you kind of do,” he tells Jaemin. “It’s a little sickening to watch.”

“You two are both gross. I can’t believe it took you this long to realize. I thought you were smarter than this, Jaemin.” Jeno clicks his tongue, shaking his head at his best friend. “So, are you going to ask him out?”

“No,” Jaemin says, frowning down at his food. “No way.”

“Why not?” Mark frowns as well.

Jaemin gives him an exasperated look. “Mark, I have a _son_. Why do you think?”

“So what?” Renjun raises an eyebrow. “Donghyuck adores the kid. Hell, he’s literally watching your son right now as we speak.”

“Okay but babysitting someone’s kid for them and dating someone with a kid are two different things,” Jaemin points out. “Why would Donghyuck want to date someone who already has a child when he can probably get anybody else he wants?”

“But he doesn’t _want_ anybody else, Jaemin.” Mark seems to be fed up with Jaemin’s bullshit, loosening his tie and rolling his neck, giving Jaemin a pissed off look. “Do you even know what you said to him that night you were sick?”

Confusion floods Jaemin. “What? Were you there that day too?”

“No, but he told me. In case you forgot, I grew up with Hyuck. We’re practically family at this point.” Mark looks like he’s 100% done with everything. “Jaemin, you said ‘love you’ to him right before you fell asleep.”

Silence, then, “Dude,” Jeno breathes out, looking at Jaemin with wide eyes. “ _Dude_.”

“Fuck,” Jaemin breathes out, eyes wide with shock. “I did?”

“You did,” Mark confirms. “So don’t be an idiot. Hyuck thinks you were just saying that in your fever-induced, delusional state, but now we know that that’s not the case here, is it?”

“No,” Jaemin whispers. “Is that why he’s been so jumpy around me these days?”

Mark shrugs, leaning back in his seat. “Probably, yeah.”

“Oh.” Jaemin contemplates the possibilities that are suddenly laid down in front of him. “Oh.”

“Yeah, _oh_ ,” Renjun says dryly. “So, let’s ask you again: are you going to ask him out?”

Jaemin chews his bottom lip, grip tightening on his fork. “I don’t know.”

“Maybe you should figure it out soon, Jaemin,” Jeno suggests lightly. “It doesn’t have to be so complicated, you know. You like Donghyuck, and who knows? Maybe Donghyuck will like you back.”

“Jeno’s right. And if what we’ve seen means anything, Donghyuck definitely reciprocates some interest, so what’s stopping you? Take a chance, Na. It’ll do you some good in the long run,” Renjun tells him in his straightforward, no-bullshit tone of voice.

And maybe his friends are right, Jaemin thinks as they go their separate ways to their respective jobs. He and Mark are silent on the drive back to work, and Jaemin continues to mull over the conversation at lunch for the rest of the day, wondering if he really should take a leap of faith and ask Donghyuck out.

His phone lights up with a text from Renjun, and Jaemin unlocks his phone, snorting when he reads the message.

 _Just do it, you idiot_ , the text reads. _Literally nothing and no one is stopping you._

Renjun is right. There really isn’t anything stopping Jaemin from asking out Donghyuck, so he decides, okay. He spends the rest of the day looking up places he can take Donghyuck out, making a mental note of the places he thinks Donghyuck will like.

He still needs to find a babysitter for Jisung, but he has a feeling that some of his friends would be more than willing to help out if it meant Jaemin is finally getting his head out of his ass.

✲

_the gay musketeers (5)_

**Jaemin** [4:56pm]: i need a babysitter for saturday

 **Mark** [5:00pm]: You already asked him out???

 **Jaemin** [5:02pm]: well… no but ill ask him out as soon as i get home

 **Renjun** [5:03pm]: with jisung watching? lol how romantic

 **Jaemin** [5:05pm]: fuck off, huang

 **Renjun** [5:09pm]: oooo hostile

 **Jeno** [5:10pm]: renjun and i can watch jisung on saturday :)

 **Renjun** [5:10pm]: wait what

 **Jaemin** [5:13pm]: thanks jeno i owe u one

 **Jeno** [5:14pm]: (.⌒‿⌒)

 **Renjun** [5:15pm]: wtf

 **Mark** [5:19pm]: Lol

✲

 **Mark** [5:20pm]: Btw you’re forgetting one important detail.

 **Jaemin** [5:23pm]: what???

 **Mark** [5:23pm]: Hyuck works at the café on the weekends, remember?

 **Jaemin** [5:28pm]: oh  
**Jaemin** [5:28pm]: oh shit

 **Mark** [5:36pm]: You’re lucky I love both you and Hyuck.  
**Mark** [5:36pm]: I’ll talk to Taeil hyung AFTER you ask out Hyuck.  
**Mark** [5:36pm]: Let me know how it goes!  
**Mark** [5:36pm]: He likes music, by the way.

 **Jaemin** [5:40pm]: mark lee have i ever told u how much i love u

 **Mark** [5:41pm]: No, but I’m not very interested in knowing, thanks. Keep that information to yourself.

 **Jaemin** [5:42pm]: Σ੧(❛□❛✿)

✲

“Um, what?” Donghyuck squints, trying do decipher if Jaemin is being serious or not. “Can you repeat that?”

“I asked if you’re free on Saturday,” Jaemin repeats, the corners of his mouth quirking up in amusement at Donghyuck’s dumbfounded expression. “I’m asking you out on a date, Donghyuck. You’re free to say no if you don’t want to.”

Donghyuck looks like he’s at a loss for words. “Um… why?”

Jaemin furrows his eyebrows. “What do you mean why? Because I like you…?”

“Yeah, but why?” Donghyuck frowns. “All I have to my name is a degree that can’t even get me a job and a mountain of student loans. Why would you want to go out with someone like me?”

Now it’s Jaemin’s turn to be at a loss for words. He frowns a little, taking a step forward to be closer to Donghyuck. “Okay, so? I have a ten-month-old son, but clearly you don’t seem to really care about what I come with and what I don’t. I’m the same, Donghyuck. I don’t care about what’s on paper, because I care about _you_ —not your degree or your debt. Hell, I can help you pay that debt off.”

Donghyuck mulls over Jaemin’s words for a minute. “Are you offering to be my sugar daddy right now?” he asks, amusement clear in his voice. Jaemin’s jaw drops when the implications of his words hit him like a ton of truck and he stumbles backwards, shaking his hands in panic as he looks at Donghyuck with wide eyes.

“Oh, my God, _no_.” Jaemin rapidly shakes his head back and forth. “That is _not_ what I’m offering right now. Oh, my God.”

Donghyuck dissolves into peals of laughter, clutching on the countertop to keep himself up as he struggles to breathe. “Relax, boss man,” Donghyuck wheezes. “I’m just kidding. I’ll have to get back to you on that date, though, because I’d have to take the day off from the café then.”

Jaemin slumps in relief. “So, that’s not a no, then?”

“It’s not a no,” Donghyuck confirms with a grin.

“Good.” Jaemin finds himself easily returning the grin. “Because Mark already offered to talk to your boss about it if you said yes.”

Donghyuck blinks. “What?”

“Uh, I may or may not have had an existential crisis in the middle of lunch today.” Jaemin waves Donghyuck’s confusion away. “Anyways, you’ll go out with me on Saturday, then?”

“Do you have a sitter for Jisung?” Donghyuck asks, glancing over at Jisung who’s busy playing with his stuffed animals.

“Renjun and Jeno offered to take care of him that day,” Jaemin assures him.

Donghyuck hesitates for a second before nodding. “Okay. It’s a date, then.”

It’s like a weight has been lifted off of Jaemin’s shoulders and he pulls Donghyuck in for a hug before he can even stop himself. “It’s a date,” he promises, pulling back and grinning at Donghyuck widely.

“Dada?” Jisung rolls over to them via his baby walker. He shakes the stuffed shark Jaemin had gotten from him from IKEA all those months ago and gives them a blinding smile. “Dada? Duckie?”

Laughter fills the apartment as Jaemin and Donghyuck immediately swoop down to pepper Jisung’s face with kisses, his delighted squeals mixing in with the sound of Donghyuck’s and Jaemin’s loud laughter.

Jaemin looks over to find that Donghyuck is already looking at him, his eyes sparkling with happiness, and Jaemin decides that, yeah. Yeah, he can definitely live like this.

✲

 **Jaemin** [10:30pm]: hey, renjun?

 **Renjun** [10:30pm]: hm?

 **Jaemin** [10:33pm]: i think i do love donghyuck

 **Renjun** [10:40pm]: lol  
**Renjun** [10:40pm]: oh, jaemin, my sweet summer child  
**Renjun** [10:40pm]: we know

 **Jaemin** [10:45pm]: do u think that’s okay?

 **Renjun** [10:45pm]: why wouldn’t it be?

 **Jaemin** [10:53pm]: idk

 **Renjun** [10:54pm]: don’t overthink it, na.  
**Renjun** [10:54pm]: youre allowed to love whoever u want, u know.

 **Jaemin** [10:55pm]: i know

 **Renjun** [10:56pm]: make sure to tell him, okay?

 **Jaemin** [10:57pm]: i will

 **Renjun** [10:59pm]: good.  
**Renjun** [10:59pm]: im happy for u

 **Jaemin** [11:01pm]: :)  
**Jaemin** [11:01pm]: thanks renjun

 **Renjun** [11:03pm]: anytime xx

✲

The first thing Donghyuck asks when he gets in the car is, “Where are you taking me?”

“My brother’s boyfriend owns a coffee shop in the city,” he tells Donghyuck. “They have an open mic going on tonight, so I was thinking we could walk around the city for a bit before heading there?”

“Sounds like a plan.” The smile Donghyuck gives Jaemin is dazzling, and honestly Jaemin thinks that Donghyuck is going to put the sun out of work soon. “What are we going to do now, then?”

“Are you hungry?” Jaemin tilts his head.

“I’m always hungry,” Donghyuck says, and Jaemin laughs.

“Good,” he says. “Because I think you’ll like this place.”

Donghyuck sighs contently as he makes himself comfortable in Jaemin’s car. “What are you waiting for then, boss man? Let’s go.”

Jaemin reaches over to grab one of Donghyuck’s hands, smiling to himself when Donghyuck laces their fingers together first. It’s going to be a good day, Jaemin thinks to himself as they drive off. It’s going to be a good day.

✲

And it is a good day, thankfully. They stuff themselves at the restaurant, almost going into a food coma afterwards, and then they decide to walk around Central Park to get to know each other better.

Jaemin learns that although Donghyuck did indeed graduate with an early childhood education degree, he decided that teaching isn’t something that he wants to do for the rest of his life.

“What do you want to do, then?” Jaemin asks, sipping on his coffee.

Donghyuck hums. “Don’t laugh at me.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Jaemin swears, giving Donghyuck a solemn nod.

“I want to write,” Donghyuck admits, stretching his legs. They’re sitting on one of the numerous benches scattered around the park, watching the people pass by. “It’s an unrealistic dream, I know, but it’s what I really want to do, you know? I guess my childhood dream of becoming a best-selling author never really faded away.”

Jaemin hums. “It might seem unrealistic to most people, yeah, but if you put your mind to it, I don’t see why you _can’t_ do it. You’re a hard worker, Donghyuck. I think you’re more than capable of winning the Pulitzer prize sometime in the near future.”

That gets a laugh out of Donghyuck and he nudges Jaemin with a teasing, but satisfied grin. “What about you, boss man?”

“Well, I didn’t have much of a choice.” Jaemin shrugs. “I’m just glad that I’m the youngest, because it did give me a little bit more freedom than Jaehyun had. I was still expected to make myself useful for the family business, so I guess it’s a good think I’ve always liked computers and numbers.”

“Ugh.” Donghyuck makes a face. “I can’t believe I’m on a date with someone who likes _math_.”

Jaemin laughs. “Hey, math is fun!”

“I have literally _never_ thought that once in my entire life,” Donghyuck deadpans, his eyes sparking in amusement. “This is an outrage.”

“You’re just a hater,” Jaemin declares. “Also, we should get going. Open mic starts at seven, I think, and it’s almost six. Ready?”

“Ready,” Donghyuck says, taking the hand Jaemin’s offered and standing up. “Are you going to sing?”

“No, but I was hoping you would,” Jaemin admits, leading Donghyuck towards the exit by the elbow. “Mark may or may not have let it slip that you have the voice of an angel.”

Donghyuck lets out a scandalized gasp, though it’s more over dramatic than anything else. “You two talk about me behind my back? How dare you.”

“Hey, hey, it’s all good things, don’t worry.” Jaemin holds up his palms in an ‘I surrender’ gesture. “If anything, I should be the one who’s worried. I heard that you and Renjun talk pretty regularly, which kind of terrifies me, I will not lie.”

“Why would you be scared?” Donghyuck asks, feigning innocence. “It’s not like Renjun’s told me all about that panicked SOS texts you’ve been sending them this entire week.”

Jaemin groans, cursing Renjun to Hell and back for being a snake. “I can’t believe he told you.”

“He also told me something else,” Donghyuck sings, walking ahead and twirling around so that he’s facing Jaemin. “I heard that Mark told you about what you said that night you were sick, right before you fell asleep.”

Jaemin stops walking and studies Donghyuck’s expression. Nothing on his face suggests that Donghyuck is uncomfortable with the fact that Jaemin’s feelings may be a little on the stronger side than just a simple _crush_ , and that gives him the courage to move forward.

“Yeah?” Jaemin raises an eyebrow in challenge.

“Yeah,” Donghyuck repeats, stepping forward so that they’re practically chest-to-chest. “So? Did you mean it? What you said that night?”

Jaemin searches Donghyuck’s face for something. What is it that he’s searching for, he doesn’t know. But when Jaemin finds that there is absolutely no glimmer hesitation in Donghyuck’s eyes, he smiles.

“Maybe I did,” Jaemin says, tilting his head to the side just the slightest. His tongue darts out to lick at his lips, and he sees Donghyuck’s eyes following the movement before snapping back up.

“I need a yes or no answer, boss man,” Donghyuck whispers, exhaling slowly.

Jaemin hums, wrapping his arms around Donghyuck’s waist. “Yes,” he says, finally. “I did mean it.”

Donghyuck gives him a smile that screams _danger, do not commence_ , but Jaemin’s never been too good at listening to the warning signs, so he leans in even closer as Donghyuck says, “Good,” before closing the gap between them.

It starts to snow, with the snowflakes landing on their faces and leaving behind the imprint of their kiss. Jaemin sighs contently, tilting Donghyuck’s head a little so that he can deepen the kiss, licking into Donghyuck’s mouth when he opens it just the slightest.

“We’re going to be late for the open mic,” Donghyuck murmurs against Jaemin’s lips when they pull away from each other.

“Fuck the open mic,” Jaemin retorts, leaning down to kiss Donghyuck again.

He can feel the way Donghyuck’s lips curl up and the way he shakes with laughter. Jaemin can’t help the smile that also overtakes his face, and soon they stand there giggling with each other as people walk past them, giving them weird looks.

“I thought you wanted to hear me sing,” Donghyuck teases, pulling back to look at Jaemin in the eyes.

Jaemin shrugs, mirth swimming in his eyes. “I’m sure there will be other opportunities.”

“Yeah?” Donghyuck grins.

“Yeah,” Jaemin repeats, one hand coming up to brush the snowflakes away from his face. “I hope you’ll stay, Donghyuck. With me.”

“And Jisung?” Donghyuck asks, the hesitation that wasn’t present earlier rearing its ugly head.

“And Jisung,” Jaemin confirms firmly. “I want you to be a part of our lives as something more than just his babysitter, Donghyuck. Only if you want to, of course.”

“I do,” Donghyuck says quietly. “I just didn’t know if _you_ wanted me to be.”

Jaemin leans to rest his forehead against Donghyuck’s, closing his eyes and taking it all of Donghyuck’s presence. “Why wouldn’t I? You’re possibly the best thing that’s happened to me this year after Jisung. Isn’t it only natural that I want you to be by my side while we watch him grow up?”

Donghyuck sniffles and Jaemin pulls back in alarm. “Don’t give me that look,” Donghyuck complains when Jaemin looks at him in concern. “These are happy tears. I can’t believe you made me cry on our first date, boss man. I hate you.”

“No you don’t,” Jaemin counters, trying to keep the grin off his face and failing. “But I’m sorry for making you cry, Donghyuck. How can I make up for it?”

“Buy me a slice of cake,” Donghyuck demands childishly, and Jaemin laughs. “And hot chocolate.”

“Your wish is my command,” Jaemin croons, wiping Donghyuck’s tears away and kissing the apples of his cheeks. “Let’s go. I’ll buy you all the hot chocolate in the world, Donghyuck.”

“Promise?” Donghyuck pouts.

Jaemin nods. “Promise.”

Donghyuck beams and links their fingers together, squeezing tightly.

If this is what happiness looks like, Jaemin thinks, then he never to let go of Donghyuck’s hand—ever.

“I’m not going to let go of this.” Jaemin holds up their hands and tells Donghyuck as such. “You’re going to be stuck with me for a long time, Duckie.”

Donghyuck pretends to think, tapping his chin with his free hand. “That’s okay,” he says. “I think I’m okay with that, boss man.”

Jaemin’s cheeks hurt from the force of his smile but he doesn’t have it in him to care—not when he’s holding the hand of the most beautiful boy in the entire universe.

_Bonus_

“You should just move in with me,” Jaemin complains as he watches Donghyuck get ready to go home. “Seriously. You spend more time here than you do at your own apartment, anyways.”

Donghyuck raises an eyebrow at that. “What about my job at the café, huh? It takes me over an hour to get back to Queens. There’s no way I’m waking up at 5 in the morning on a Saturday.”

“You could just quit, you know,” Jaemin grumbles, crossing his arms petulantly. “I make enough to support the three of us, anyways. Actually, yeah. Why don’t you just quit?”

“Are you offering to be my sugar daddy again?” Donghyuck giggles at the incredulous look on Jaemin’s face. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. I actually gave Taeil hyung my two-week notice the other day.”

“Oh?” Jaemin’s eyebrows shoot up at that. “You didn’t tell me that.”

“Yeah, well.” Donghyuck shrugs, looking shy all of a sudden, kicking at the floor. Jaemin smiles fondly when he can’t seem to look at Jaemin in the eyes, and he coos, cupping Donghyuck’s face to force him to look up.

“Aw, did you want to move in with me?” Jaemin coos, peppering kisses all over Donghyuck’s face. “So cute, Duckie. All you had to do was ask, you know. I’ve been wanting to tell you to just move in since you started looking after Jisung for me.”

Donghyuck makes a noise of protest and he tries to free himself from Jaemin’s grip, but Jaemin refuses to let him get too far. He stalks forward, forcing Donghyuck to walk backwards until his back hits the door.

“When’s your last day?” Jaemin asks against Donghyuck’s skin, mouthing at his neck.

“Um. Next Sunday,” Donghyuck gasps when Jaemin bites down. “Jaemin, your son is _literally_ sleeping in the other room—”

“Hmm?” Jaemin hums, kissing his way up to Donghyuck’s lips, smirking slightly when Donghyuck responds almost immediately. “So what? We’re not doing anything, are we?”

“You are the devil,” Donghyuck declares, giving Jaemin a pouty glare. “I changed my mind. I don’t want to move in with you anymore.”

“Wait.” Jaemin’s eyes go wide with panic. “Wait, Duckie, I’m sorry—”

“I’m kidding, you idiot.” Donghyuck rolls his eyes fondly and squishes Jaemin’s cheeks with his hands. “My last day is next Sunday, which means you should help me move in some time before that.”

“Okay.” Jaemin tries to nod but fails due to Donghyuck refusing to let go of his cheeks. “I’ll take a day off next week, then. I’ll ask my parents if they can watch Jisung for a couple of hours.”

“Sounds like a plan, boss man,” Donghyuck sings, leaning up to give Jaemin one last kiss. “Okay, I seriously have to go now. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Jisung and I will pick you up as soon as your shift ends,” Jaemin promises, trying to steal one more kiss. “Hey,” he complains when Donghyuck dodges his attempts. “You’re not being fair.”

Donghyuck laughs. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Jaemin,” he says sweetly.

“See you tomorrow, Donghyuck.” Jaemin smiles. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Donghyuck beams, pecking Jaemin on the cheek before leaving. He watches Donghyuck get in the elevator with a stupid smile on his face, unable to believe that Donghyuck is really _his_.

Jaemin’s expected a lot of things when he turned 27.

He expected a bit more stability in his life along with more responsibilities that come with age. He expected the days to blur together and to have each day just be a tedious repetition of the last.

Having his six-month-old son, who is now almost 13 months old, be dropped off in front of his doorsteps is the last thing Jaemin would’ve expected to happen, and the introduction of a certain Lee Donghyuck is _definitely_ not something Jaemin had planned for.

But, Jaemin thinks as he goes to check on his sleeping son, a dopey smile appearing on his face when he finds Jisung sleeping soundly. Sometimes, the unexpected surprises can be some of the best things that can happen in life, if Jaemin’s is anything to go by.

It’s what brought Donghyuck and Jisung into his life, after all, Jaemin thinks, leaning down to press a kiss on Jisung’s forehead, wishing his son a silent good night as he retreats into his own bedroom.

There’s a text waiting for him from Donghyuck when Jaemin lays down to get some sleep, and it makes Jaemin laugh in surprise, hoping that tomorrow will come faster so that he can have Donghyuck in his arms again.

_I’m expecting to be given my own copy of the key, soon, boss man! Sleep well. I love you to the moon and back._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just some extra notes:  
> -jaemin told his parents+jaehyun about jisung some time between chapter 2 and 3, which have a slight time skip between them  
> -jaehyun's boyfriend is johnny (lol surprise)  
> -nahyuck's development is rushed and all over the place and i'm sorry,, i swear i will work on my time management and hopefully do them more justice next time 😔
> 
> okay, that's it! i hope you enjoyed the fic!  
> comments and kudos will make my day :'D  
> 


End file.
